Not On My Watch

“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.” Genesis 14:14

This verse intrigues me. It isn’t the reactive response of Abram to a relative in need that captivates me although it is very gallant and honorable action. Nor is it the intensity of the chase that fascinates me either. What I can’t seem to wrap my mind around is that he had 318 trained men for battle in his household.

One of the weaknesses that grieve my heart in the household of faith is the shortage of warriors that are proficient in the use of their armor. I sense that most of us don’t even know where to find it let alone use it. While we could lay the blame on the individual believer, I couldn’t help but notice that Abram had trained his men. The problem is probably two fold. The first part being that there is probably not enough instruction and the second is that we don’t think we can learn.

Why does this verse compel me to think about what we are doing so much? Probably because I don’t think we are prepared. I believe that the enemy has stepped up his game in these end times but we haven’t counter attacked. He is planning all manner of espionage against us and we are acting as if nothing is going on. In the mean time, he is messing with our families, our government, the lost and he is using all kinds of shameless schemes to accomplish his end. Drugs, alcohol, teenage prostitution, pornography, female slave trade…the list goes on. We stand by impassive and expressionless as we gaze at the audacity of his plans, yet do nothing.

Is it just because we aren’t trained? Is it because we feel powerless that we can do anything about it? Do we think that we are impotent in our fight against evil? We might think that but that isn’t what scripture says.

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Cor 10:3-4

According to Ephesians 6 where we find the description of the armor, the only weapon that is noted there is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v17b). Putting these two verses together it would seem that the way that we fight our battles is by wielding the word of God as an expert warrior. As a trained soldier is very familiar with his weapons, we need to be as skilled with the word of God.

I don’t know what the answer is regarding the household of faith. I don’t know how to rally 318 trained men and women in the scriptures to go out and fight the enemy. But I do know that I want to be trained. I don’t want the enemy to have access to my family or the people that I hold dear. I want to be skilled in the scriptures so that I can demolish any stronghold the adversary tries to erect in my life or in the lives of those I hold dear. God tells me I already have the divine power need and I intend to learn how to use it.

They stand upon a wall and say, "Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch." ...
A Few Good Men